ABSTRACT
Asking smarter questions matters because smarter questions drive smarter, more useful answers. In our world of increasing polarisation and fractured discourse, we need every hack we can muster to bridge our differences of opinion. The in-built inequalities of mature global capitalism have driven a wedge between the haves and the have-nots, a wedge ripped into a gaping chasm, first by the global recession of the late 2000s and then by state-enforced austerity. This led to the rise of the far right and the shockwaves of votes for both Brexit and Trump.
Polarisation and discord have been exacerbated and amplified by both social media platforms and Big Tech’s advertiser-funded model that cares little for the well-being of its users. COVID has done nothing to slow this down, despite the green shoots of prosocial behaviour under the first lockdown. Opposing sides shout and escape censure or opprobrium by lurking like trolls in the shadows, failing to ask smarter questions or listen to answers. In this toxic atmosphere of “loudest voice wins”, we can only bring ourselves back from the abyss through constructive conversation and a properly Stoic mindset, one that accepts that we can only control our response to events not events themselves.
